William Geoffrey Kay pleads guilty to assaulting father in Gympie QLD

A man has been jailed over a vicious attack against his own father in which he punched the older man several times before placing him in a stranglehold during a fight.

A 27-year-old carpenter will remain behind bars until 2025 after bashing and choking his own father so severely in a fight over loud music he fractured the older man’s throat.

Gympie District Court heard William Geoffrey Kay, 27, was at his parents’ regional home on November 24, 2023, when his 62-year-old father woke from a nap to the sound of loud music being played by another guest at the home.

Kay’s father asked the guest, a woman, to turn it down but she angrily denied the request.

The 27-year-old then stepped into the argument, forcing the older man to tell them to leave him alone.

The older man tried to retreat to his bedroom and make a call on his phone, which Kay attempted to grab, the court heard.

Gympie District Court heard William Geoffrey Kay, 27 was at his parents’ regional home on November 24, 2023, when his 62-year-old father woke from a nap to the sound of loud music being played by another guest at the home.

When the older man moved the device away Kay punched him “five or six times” on the left side of his head, Judge Bernard Porter said.

Kay’s father tried to walked away but the 27-year-old “blocked his exit”.

When his father said he wanted to leave, Kay then pushed past the 62-year-old and grabbed him around the throat with his left arm “for about 30 seconds”, leaving him “unable to breathe”.

Kay then punched his father “four more times, approximately” while he was in the stranglehold.

His father was left with a throat fracture from the attack, the court was told.

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Kay pleaded guilty at Gympie District Court to assault occasioning bodily harm, and strangulation in a domestic setting, each a domestic violence offence.

When police picked Kay up he told officers he was the one leaving the residence and claimed his father had attacked him.

Judge Porter accepted Kay was intoxicated at the time of the assault, but pointed out it was no excuse and he was the one who made the choice to drink.

The court heard Kay’s offending was the latest in a string of domestic violence on his record, which included verbal abuse and threats, damaging property, and firing a compound bow – a weapon which at one point he pointed it at a police officer.

Kay was also on probation and parole at the time.

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The 27-year-old pleaded guilty to assault occasioning bodily harm, and strangulation in a domestic setting, each a domestic violence offence.

Judge Porter sentenced him to three years’ jail.

He will be eligible for parole on January 20, 2025.